Documentary focuses on illegal immigration

A 30-minute documentary on illegal border crossings in Arizona brought more than 100 people to the Statesville Civic Center Sunday afternoon. The documentary was produced by a group from Tea Party Patriots, including Iredell County Commissioner Renee Griffith. The documentary was shot in July in Cochise County, Ariz., and was produced to highlight the problems some Arizona residents say they are dealing with in terms of illegal immigration, she said.
Griffith said she and other area Tea Party representatives went to Arizona at the behest of Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, a nationally known conservative commentator. The trip was not an official one for the county and Griffith said she and the others paid their own way.
Dever was on hand Sunday for the premiere of the documentary “Invasion Freedom Under Fire.”
In the documentary, Griffith and others talk to residents of Cochise County about the issues they experience with illegal border crossings. Twice in the documentary, a clip from a press conference involving Department of Homeland Security Secretary and former Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano, is shown and, in that clip, she says the borders are as safe as they’ve ever been.
That drew some laughter from the crowd. Dever said the borders are extremely porous and those living along the 83-mile border in Cochise County are living in fear. He said many of those crossing the border in his county are not “poor hapless people looking for a better life.”
Dever said many are smuggling drugs for cartels south of the border. Dever said those on the federal level contend it would take a large number of people to totally secure the U.S.-Mexico border and that isn’t feasible.
Dever disagreed. He said the 1,300 border patrol agents assigned to Cochise County and his 86-person force can do the job if allowed to do so.
One person in the audience asked Dever what was stopping those agents and deputies from securing the borders. Dever said the issue is one of procedure and resources not being deployed properly.
He said Arizona’s immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, which allows law enforcement to question a person about their immigration status, is being challenged in court and that he and other sheriffs are being sued as well. Dever said the law does not give law enforcement all-encompassing powers to question immigration status, but only where probable cause exists that the person is an illegal. Despite the lawsuit, he said, he’s not backing down on tracking and deporting illegals.
“I don’t care. If the federal government would tell me to quit arresting illegal aliens, I would triple my efforts just to spite them,” he said.
Local resident Rex Bell questioned why the borders cannot be secured if there are 1,300 agents in Cochise County alone.
“With four shifts, that’s 300 border patrol agents per shift,” he said.
Bell said the solution is simple. “I hunt some and when you hunt you’ve got to go where the game is,” he said. “You could station two people 1,500 feet apart and cover the whole border.”
One person asked Dever what the ideal and realistic solution to securing the borders would be.
“I think they’re one in the same” he said. Dever said technology exists to place fiber-optic cables to monitor the border crossings and alert officials anytime that border is breeched. The other action, he said, is to place resources in strategic positions.
“This will not work until you know what your objective is,” he said.
Dever said addressing the border-crossing is just one of the problems. Effective prosecutions and workplace enforcement are also keys.
A journalist from a Hispanic newspaper got the biggest reaction when he asked Dever about the use of illegal immigrants to build many of the large buildings in Charlotte. Those in the audience stirred, with several making comments about entering the country legally. Dever replied that he believes in accountability.
“It’s unconscionable that we should be engaged in that struggle (to secure the borders) and it be OK somewhere down the line,” he said. Dever said it is his opinion that once a person illegally enters the country they should be deported and not allowed to return. Griffith said she is disturbed by the burden illegal immigrants put on the county.
“I was curious. I wanted to se what the economic costs are,” she said.